Competition Commission Of India
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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is the chief national
competition regulator A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of the markets. And the Law in which it takes cognizance of situations having any type of impediments and distortions on the markets and correct them is the competition law ...
in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It is a
statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
body within the
Ministry of Corporate Affairs The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is an Indian government ministry primarily concerned with administration of the Companies Act 2013, the Companies Act 1956, the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 201 ...
and is responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002 to promote
competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
and prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India. The CCI looks into cases and investigates them if the same has a negative impact on competition. CCI also approves combination under the act so that two merging entities do not overtake the market. The commission was established on 14 October 2003. It became fully functional in May 2009 with
Dhanendra Kumar Dhanendra Kumar (born 1946) is a civil servant who was the first Chair of Competition Commission of India (CCI). Kumar formerly served as Executive Director at World Bank. Biography Born in 1946, Kumar joined the Indian Administrative Service ...
as its first chairman. The current Chairman of the CCI is
Ashok Kumar Gupta Ashok Kumar Gupta (Hindi: अशोक कुमार गुप्ता) was an Indian civil servant and served as the Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India. He was formerly Secretary to the Government of India in the Department o ...
, who was appointed to the role in 2018.


The Competition Act, 2002

The idea of Competition Commission was conceived and introduced in the form of the Competition Act, 2002 by the
Vajpayee government Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of India, first from 16 May to 1 June 1996, and then from 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vajpayee was the tenth Pri ...
. A need was felt to promote competition and private enterprise especially in the light of 1991 Indian economic liberalisation. The Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws. The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and
Merger and acquisition Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India. The objectives of the act are sought to be achieved through the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which has been established by the Central Government with effect from 14 October 2003. CCI consists of a chairperson and six members appointed by the Central Government. It is the duty of the commission to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India. The commission is also required to give an opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a
statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...
established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.


Objectives


Preamble to the Competition Act

An Act to provide, keeping in view of the economic development of the country, for the establishment of a Commission to prevent practices having adverse effect on competition, to promote and sustain competition in markets, to protect the interests of consumers and to ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants in markets, in India, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. To achieve its objectives, the Competition Commission of India endeavors to do the following: * Make the markets work for the benefit and welfare of consumers. * Ensure fair and healthy competition in economic activities in the country for faster and
inclusive growth Inclusive growth is economic growth that raises standards of livings for broad swaths of a population. Proponents for inclusive growth warn that inequitable growth may have adverse political outcomes. The definition of inclusive growth implies dire ...
and development of the economy. * Implement competition policies with an aim to effectuate the most efficient utilization of economic resources. * Develop and nurture effective relations and interactions with sectoral regulators to ensure smooth alignment of sectoral regulatory laws in tandem with competition law. * Effectively carry out competition advocacy and spread the information on benefits of competition among all stakeholders to establish and nurture competition culture in Indian economy.


Composition

The commission comprises a chairperson and not less than two and not more than six other members appointed by the Central Government.
Ashok Kumar Gupta Ashok Kumar Gupta (Hindi: अशोक कुमार गुप्ता) was an Indian civil servant and served as the Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India. He was formerly Secretary to the Government of India in the Department o ...
is the current chairperson of the CCI. The members of the Competition Commission of India are: # Dr. Sangeeta Verma # Bhagwant Singh Bishnoi


Notable cases

* In December 2010, CCI instituted a probe to examine if there was any cartelization among traders when onion prices touched 80 rupees, but did not find sufficient evidence of
market manipulation In economics and finance, market manipulation is a type of market abuse where there is a deliberate attempt to interfere with the free and fair operation of the market; the most blatant of cases involve creating false or misleading appearances ...
. * In June 2012, CCI imposed a fine of on 11 cement companies for
cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...
isation. CCI claimed that cement companies met regularly to fix prices, control market share and hold back supply which earned them illegal profits. * In January 2013, CCI modified clauses in agreements between real estate company
DLF Limited Delhi Land & Finance (DLF Limited) is a commercial real estate developer. It was founded by Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh in 1946 and it is based in New Delhi, India. DLF developed residential colonies in Delhi such as, Model Town, Rajouri Garde ...
and apartment buyers. Business and finance portal
Moneycontrol.com Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...
welcomed the order saying that, "This is a landmark ruling and will benefit property owners across the country". Some of the important modifications were: ** The Builder cannot undertake any additional construction beyond the approved building plan given to the buyers. ** The builder will not have complete ownership of open spaces within the residential project area not sold. ** Not just the buyer but the builder will be liable for any defaults. ** All payments made by the buyers must be based on construction milestones and not "on demand". ** The builder will not have the sole power to form the ''owner’s association''. * On 8 February 2013, CCI imposed a penalty of on the
Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...
(BCCI) for misusing its dominant position. The CCI found that IPL team ownership agreements were unfair and discriminatory and that the terms of the IPL franchise agreements were loaded in favor of BCCI and franchises had no say in the terms of the contract. The CCI ordered BCCI to "cease and desist" from any practice in future denying market access to potential competitors and not use its regulatory powers in deciding matters relating to its commercial activities. * In 2014, CCI imposed a fine of ₹10 million upon
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
for failure to comply with the directions given by the Director General seeking information and documents. *On 25 August 2014, CCI imposed a fine of ₹2544 crores on 14 Indian car manufacturers for failure to provide branded spare parts and diagnostic tools to independent repairers, hampering their ability to repair and maintain certain car models. The companies fined were Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Hindustan Motors, Mercedes Benz and Skoda. * On 17 November 2015, CCI imposed a fine of ₹258 crores upon three airlines for cartelization in determining the fuel surcharge on air cargo. A penalty of was imposed on
Jet Airways Jet Airways (India) Ltd is an Indian airline based in Delhi NCR, with a training and developmental center in Mumbai. Incorporated in April 1992 as a limited liability company, the airline began operations as an air taxi operator in 1993. It b ...
, while InterGlobe Aviation Limited (Indigo) and
SpiceJet SpiceJet is an Indian budget airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is the second largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers carried, with a market share of 13.6% as of March 2019. The airline operates 630 daily fli ...
were levied and respectively. * In May 2017, CCI ordered a probe into the functioning of the
Cellular Operators Association of India The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group focused mainly on telecommunications industry. COAI was constituted in 1995 as a registered, non-governmental society. As of 2 ...
following a complaint filed by
Reliance Jio Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, doing business as Jio, is an Indian telecommunications company and a subsidiary of Jio Platforms, headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It operates a national LTE network with coverage across all ...
against the cartelization by its rivals Bharati Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea cellular. * On 8 February 2018, it had fined Google's parent company,
Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and sev ...
for for search bias. * On August 12, 2018, the CCI approved the Disney-Fox deal. * In July 2018 the Commission imposed fines on the Federation of Gujarat State Chemists and Druggists Association, the Amdavad Chemist Association, the Surat Chemists and Druggists Association, the Chemists and Druggists Association of Baroda,
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Mumbai, India. History it was founded in 1977 by Gracias Saldanha as a generic drug and active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer; he na ...
, Hetero Healthcare Ltd, Divine Saviour and their staff and officers for breaches of the Competition Act 2002 by requiring
No Objection Certificate No Objection Certificate, popularly abbreviated as NOC, is a type of legal certificate issued by any agency, organisation, institute or, in certain cases, an individual. It does not object to the covenants of the certificate. The certification is ...
s before appointing stockists. *In May 2019, Umar Javeed, Sukarma Thapar, Aaqib Javeed vs. Google LLC & Ors. the commission ordered an antitrust probe against Google for abusing its dominant position with Android to block market rivals. In its Prima Facie opinion the commission held, "Mandatory Pre-installation of entire
Google Mobile Services Google Mobile Services (GMS) is a collection of proprietary applications and application programming interfaces (APIs) services from Google that are typically pre-installed on Android devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. GMS ...
(GMS) suite under Mobile application distribution agreements MADA amounts to imposition of unfair condition on the device manufacturers. Leveraging of
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
's dominance in Google
Play Store Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating syst ...
to protect relevant markets such as online general search in contravention of Section 4(2)(e) of the
Competition Act 2002 The Competition Act, 2002 was enacted by the Parliament of India and governs Indian competition law. It replaced the archaic The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969. Under this legislation, the Competition Commission of India wa ...
". *In June 2019, CCI issued letters to handset makers seeking details of terms and conditions of their agreement with Google. This is to ascertain if Google imposed any restrictions on them for using the company's apps in the past 8 years from 2011. *In December 2021, CCI took a step back from approving
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
's investment in a
Future Group Future Group is an Indian conglomerate, founded by Kishore Biyani and based in Mumbai. The company is known in Indian retail and fashion sectors, operating supermarket chains Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores Brand Factory and Centra ...
company, which had initially received its nod in November 2019. Amazon has been blamed for concealing the scope and complete information of its investment while seeking for the approval. *On December 31, 2021, CCI ordered an investigation into
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
business practices, including the company's enforcement of a proprietary payment system, to be conducted within 60 days. *In October 2022, CCI imposed a penalty on Google for abusing its dominance in the licensing of Android OS for smartphones, app store market for Android, general web search services, non-OS specific mobile web browsers and online video hosting platforms in India. A week later, CCI levied a separate penalty for abusing its Play Store policies. Additionally, it issued a cease-and-desist order directing Google to modify its policies, including allowing mobile application developers to use third-party payment services on its app store.


See also

*
National Competition Policy (India) National Competition Policy is formulated by the Government of India with a view to achieve highest sustainable levels of economic growth, entrepreneurship, employment, higher standards of living for citizens, protect economic rights for just, equi ...


References


External links

* Competition Commission of India
The Competition Act, 2002 – Bare Act

Overview of Competition Law
{{Indian commissions Indian commissions and inquiries Regulatory agencies of India Vajpayee administration initiatives Competition regulators Quasi-judicial bodies of India Ministry of Corporate Affairs Consumer organisations in India 2003 establishments in Delhi Government agencies established in 2003